Overview
- On June 9, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all 17 ACIP members and two days later installed eight new advisors, several known for vaccine skepticism and misinformation.
- ACIP’s June 26 meeting will skip votes on COVID-19, HPV and meningococcal vaccines and instead debate thimerosal-containing flu shots, RSV immunizations for pregnant women and children, and measles-mumps-rubella-varicella use.
- Former ACIP members wrote in JAMA that Kennedy’s overhaul has stripped decades of institutional knowledge and continuity, critically weakening the U.S. vaccine program.
- Dr. Fiona Havers resigned from the CDC in protest, warning that the revamped process and diminished scientific rigor could lead to preventable disease outbreaks.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders has called on the Senate Health Committee to launch a bipartisan investigation into Kennedy’s firing of the vaccine advisory panel and his broader vaccine policy decisions.